Excerpt From A Total Nobody's Life
by Mithostwen
Summary: A completely insignificant Telosian girl has a nasty shock when the last person she ever wants to see again walks not so insignificantly into her cantina. Takes place during KOTOR II.


Excerpt From A Total Nobody's Life

:ii:

Disclaimer: I do not own Telos. (Or Tatooine.) I do own Keran and the drunk guy. If I told you any more, I'd ruin the story. Maybe I already have. Enjoy anyway.

:ii:

"No, I'm sorry, sir. This isn't Tatooine; we have a legal drinking limit," Keran recited as politely as possible, brushing her bangs out of her eyes with an irritable flick. The rest of her dirty-blonde hair was parted on the side and pulled back in a simple bun typical of anyone unfortunate enough to work in a cantina on Telos.

"Naw, this is furrr… my friend. S'posed to meet him here…"

"Really," she said doubtfully. "Well, I'll have no problem pouring one when he orders it himself."

"In that case, I'll take a hit of juma please," said a new voice.

She jumped. She hadn't seen anyone approach, though admittedly, the place was pretty packed tonight.

More disturbing was the familiarity of that voice.

She turned, her blood freezing at the memories that rushed on that wave.

It was _him_.

Same grubby jacket, same self-satisfied smirk… there was no mistaking it.

She was suddenly aware of her white-knuckled death grip on the glass in her hand, and dimly surprised that she hadn't broken it.

"Get_ out_, Murderer. _Now_." Clenched teeth gave an added punch to the words she spat in his evil face. "I told you not to come back here."

She subtly edged back from the counter just a little, just enough to make sure she was out of reach. If he pulled a gun on her though, there was little she could do, except maybe hurl a broken glass at him.

Then, unexpectedly, he seemed to deflate, averting his gaze.

"That's why I came back. To… apologize for what I did to your friend."

Something in her snapped.

"Are you kidding me? I was there! I _saw _you kill her, and you definitely did not look sorry!" People were starting to turn their heads, but she shrugged them off. Boiling rage had her on a rant, and no one else's opinion, not even her boss's, was going to stop her now. It was all she could do not to seize the creep by his throat.

"You killed her for no reason! You just up and shot her in the head—a _Jedi_, for crying out loud! What's wrong with you! She was—she was—"

"Completely innocent. Yes. I know."

"Then _why_—!"

"Look, I was an assassin for the Sith, okay?" he yelled back, leaning forward and slamming his fists into the tabletop. "That was my job! To murder Jedi! And yes, I enjoyed it, because I hated the Jedi for what they did to us during the war—I'm not denying it! Alright? I had no grudge against your friend as a person. I didn't even know her. I didn't know any of them."

She glared at him, wanting to rip his tongue out for talking that way, almost not caring whether he killed her for it.

"Any of 'them'?" she repeated, barely restraining herself. "You killed more than one?"

"Look, you want to talk about this in any more detail, it isn't going to be in front of all these people. Meet me at the pazaak den after—"

Finally losing her temper, Keran seized him by the collar and all but pulled him out of his seat.

"How stupid do you think I am?" she whispered vehemently. "I'm not going to wind up dead like _she _did. You're going to answer all my questions, or I'm going to turn you in."

"To who? The Exchange?" he asked boredly, apparently oblivious to the hostile grip she had on his shirt. "Look, sister, if I wanted you dead, you'd be dead. Okay? A bartender would be no challenge after all the Jedi I've killed. Or the Sith I've killed more recently. Like I said, I was in the area and I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry. That's all."

He stood up and pried her now-limp fingers loose with very little effort. After slapping a few credits onto the countertop, he turned to go.

Only then, when it caught the light, did she notice the lightsaber at his waist.

"Meet you at the pazaak den when?" she called after him, surprising herself. But after all… hadn't he said 'the Sith I've killed more recently'? Could he possibly be a Jedi now? She couldn't help it; she wanted to know the whole story.

He turned halfway through the doorway, and looked back with something that just might have been regret.

"Sorry, I forgot something else when I said that. I can't. I'm leaving Telos. Today. It's… important. More important than anything."

And with that, he was gone.

Keran stared blankly at the door for a moment, before her more-than-slightly-intoxicated customer started prodding her in the arm and asking whether they were on Tatooine yet.

Pursing her lips and squaring her shoulders, she got back to work.

Outside, the "murderer" was heading for his ship, his conscience just a little bit clearer. The orange and gray freighter was still there, right where they'd left it, unlike last time when one of Atris' little handmaidens decided to steal it. He could dimly see the outline of someone waiting for him on the landing ramp.

"Atton! Where have you been?"

:ii:

Hee hee. That was completely random, wasn't it? Could you tell it was him though? If you couldn't, I've failed miserably. Frankly, I'm just shocked I managed to write a story under 20 pages. Reviews would be cool, but I understand if you don't want to waste your time.

And thanks again to Meiza for pointing out the fact that I mixed Telos and Nar Shaddaa. I think I fixed it now and it makes a lot more sense. :-)


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